incumbent

American  

[in-kuhm-buhnt] / ɪnˈkʌm bənt /

adjective

1. holding an indicated position, role, office, etc., currently.

   the incumbent officers of the club.

2. obligatory (often followed by on orupon ).

   a duty incumbent upon me.

3. Archaic. resting, lying, leaning, or pressing on something.

   incumbent upon the cool grass.

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noun

• incumbents
  plural

1. the holder of an office.

   The incumbent was challenged by a fusion candidate.

2. British. a person who holds an ecclesiastical benefice.

incumbent British  

/ ɪnˈkʌmbənt /

adjective

1. formal morally binding or necessary; obligatory

   it is incumbent on me to attend

2. resting or lying (on)

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noun

1. a person who holds an office, esp a clergyman holding a benefice

incumbent Cultural  

1. One who holds a public office. By virtue of their experience in office, their exposure to the public, and their ability to raise campaign funds, incumbents usually have a significant advantage over opponents if they choose to run for reelection.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonincumbent
  noun
• anti-incumbent
  adjective
• incumbently
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• incumbents
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of incumbent

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English (noun), from Latin incumbent-, stem of incumbēns “lying upon,” present participle of incumbere “to lie or lean upon,” equivalent to in- in- ² + -cumbere (variant combining form of cubāre “to lie down”; see cubicle)

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Explanation

An incumbent is an official who holds an office. If you want to run for congress, you're going to have to beat the incumbent. Incumbent comes from the Latin word incumbens, which means "lying in" or "leaning on," but came to mean "holding a position." It was first used in English for someone holding a church office, and then someone holding any office. You'll most likely hear it today for political officials. In a race for mayor, the incumbent mayor faces a challenger. Incumbent also means "required by obligation." It is incumbent upon you to do the dishes.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

incumbent incumbents

The other outstanding Senate race is in Alaska, where Democrat Mary Peltola narrowly leads Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan.

From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026

Nithya Raman will be the next mayor of Los Angeles, making her the first challenger to defeat an incumbent L.A. mayor in more than two decades.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

A vote against an incumbent is often itself an act of a voice.

From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2026

Lewis is a member of a grassroots organization called Ottawa United, and ran for Congress this cycle as a Democrat, though he lost on Tuesday to the incumbent Republican.

From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2026

The incumbent hazards lent the activity a seriousness of purpose that was sorely missing from the rest of my life.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

Instead we decided to look at candidates who represented different kinds of modern extremism, excluding incumbents from our list.

From Slate ● Nov. 3, 2026

This spells competition — and trouble — for the three incumbents, T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T, and shares in all of them have traded down sharply as a consequence.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026

In House races, at least 47 Republican incumbents were outraised by Democratic or independent challengers, according to Punchbowl News.

From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026

“And, in a way, it kind of needs to be a startup because the big incumbents are not going to move as fast. They’re going to be afraid of backlash.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

When Faye came down from Sacramento and opened her house there was a flurry of animosity from the two incumbents.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

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Related Words

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